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AC68U LAN to WiFi downlink throughput issue

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speedingcheetah

Senior Member
I suddenly have a strange issue with my Asus RT-AC68U, that I have had for many years now with very few issues.

I frequently transfer files to and from my wifi laptop and wired desktop or NAS. I normally get (and have been getting for years) downlink and uplink speeds of 40-60MB's as reported by Win 10 file transfer dialog. (on AC 5ghz wifi, 80mhz) Wifi laptop is in same room as router, So not an range issue.

However, recently, my LAN to wifi downlink throughput to wifi client is stuck maxing out at 8-9MB's.
But, my WAN to wifi device is pulling 30MB's fine, my ISP max download speed (250megs).
But, my Wifi to LAN uplink is fine, getting 40-60MB's.
Both 5ghz and 2.4ghz wifi downlink do this.
Affects all wifi devices.
No difference when change wifi channels. (already was on optimal channels for my crowded environment.)
Windows reports the wifi connection speed as its full support spec of the wifi NIC (866Mbps).
Speed decreases to around 1MB's when I move not to far away, the other room, from router.

Usage example:

Using wifi computer, Transfer file from any wired LAN computer to wifi computer, max speed is 8-9MB's.
Using wifi computer, Transfer file from wifi computer to wired LAN computer, max speeds is 40-60MB's.
Using wifi computer, download a large file from Internet, max speeds are apprx 30MB's.

Using either computers, transfer files via wired LAN, unaffected, get full wire speeds of approx 110MB's both ways.

The only times I have had this happen where transfer speeds were suddenly restricted, was due to a driver update for the affected devices wifi NIC. Reverting the driver, and rebooting, always fixed the issue. Also, only that one wifi device was having the issue. Or, something is just, goofy, with wired LAN NIC in the computer transferring the files, and power cycling the computer(and thus NIC) fixes the issue.

The wifi NIC (Intel AC8260) in my Dell Precision 5510 laptop was updated several weeks ago, however, there were no issues after the update. I did try reverting the NIC driver, no change. I also fired up a Intel NUC I have, that has not had any updates in months, and it too has the same issue of low wifi downlink. So do all wifi devices, including my phone. I also booted Linux live on my laptop to rule out Windows. Same issue.

Things I have tried:

Power cycle router.
Power cycle every device on network.
Revert or update client NIC drivers.
Changed wifi channels.
Factory reset router, then tested using default settings, and only my wifi laptop and one wired desktop connected.
Router has current firmware: 3.0.0.4.384_21045-gb451ba1

Can not resolve issue with wifi.

Any ideas?

{I don't want to buy a new router...but I was thinking the AC86U would be my only real option, as I do want/need the stand up design like the AC68U is, for my current setup location. But I am seeing many reviews of folks having random disconnect issues with the current model Asus routers.....sigh.}
 
Last edited:
Adding in some more details I left out, didn't think it was that relevant.

Actually, I updated to Version 3.0.0.4.384.20942 2018/05/22 the day after it came out.
I was on the version just released previous to it.
It worked fine.
I run tests after each firmware update to make sure nothing got derped.
Had no issues until 9 days later on 2018/06/01.
As part of troubleshooting, I checked for firmware update, and coincidentally, Asus released Version 3.0.0.4.384.21045 that day 2018/06/01.
I updated to that firmware, but issues persisted, even after factory reset.

I am curious if any one else experienced this issue?
 
Yes I can confirm that 3.0.0.4.384.20942 has wifi to lan speed problem. I was getting more than 20MBps before this version and it dropped to around 7MBps after update. 3.0.0.4.384.21045 also did not solved problem.
 
A user who says he is from Asus sent me a PM with a link to a beta firmware.
I am unable to test this as I can not take the downtime....but if you could test it to see if the issue is resovled, might be helpful.

Hi
I am from ASUSTek. According to you report the issue as

AC68U LAN to WiFi downlink throughput issue

Could you try this beta FW RT-AC68U_9.0.0.4_384_21071-ged7a196.trx?

https://www.asuswebstorage.com/navigate/s/8DE871DE6C3D4A6CA714DCC2F729AA524

I sent. this is only for issue as LAN to WiFi downlink throughput...
 
A user who says he is from Asus sent me a PM with a link to a beta firmware.
I am unable to test this as I can not take the downtime....but if you could test it to see if the issue is resovled, might be helpful.

Hi
I am from ASUSTek. According to you report the issue as

AC68U LAN to WiFi downlink throughput issue

Could you try this beta FW RT-AC68U_9.0.0.4_384_21071-ged7a196.trx?

https://www.asuswebstorage.com/navigate/s/8DE871DE6C3D4A6CA714DCC2F729AA524

I wish I could, but I changed my AC68U with a AC86U. Now I use two AC86U for Mesh setup.
 
Last edited:
Same issue appears when I upgrade to Merlin 384.6.
Flashed back to 384.5, back to normal.
 
So. I decided to finally do it. Upgraded my old AC68U 1st gen model I bought right when it came out...to a AC86U.

Flashed 384.5 and ran tests. Then flashed 384.6. No issues with LAN to WLAN/WLAN to LAN speed issues like i had on the 68U.
 

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